Rejection-Identification: An Examination of Group-Level and Individual-Level Discrimination Among Hispanic Immigrants

This study investigates the Rejection-Identification Model (RIM) by examining impacts of group-level and personal experiences with discrimination on different measures of ethnic identity and cultural importance among Hispanic immigrants. The RIM is used to describe associations between discrimination and increased ethnic identity and the mediating role of ethnicity on negative outcomes of discrimination. Growing empirical support for the RIM has prompted inquiry into its application among different populations, including immigrants who face numerous types of discrimination. Using the Latino Immigrant National Election Survey, the study found that the perception of group-level discrimination was associated with a higher likelihood of reporting Hispanic identity importance, however, personal experiences with discrimination were not. Further, results showed that neither type of discrimination impacted cultural or Spanish language maintenance importance. This paper discusses the implications of these findings and how the protective factors presented by the RIM may vary among populations and when considering personal and group-level discrimination.

Procedural Justice and the Allocation of Power in Intergroup Relations: Studies in the United States and South Africa

This study explored preferences for the proportionality (PR) versus equality (EQ) principles in the allocation of political power and other resources between majorities and minorities. Preferences for PR were expected when individual-level justice was salient and for EQ when group-level justice was salient. Group-level concerns were expected to be more salient for minorities than majorities for procedural resources and for group-level than individual-level distributive resources. Consistent with expectations, subjects from the United States and South Africa were more likely to divide a procedural resource (political power) equally between two simulated ethnic groups differing in size when led to identify with a minority than a majority. Equality was also more salient to members of real ethnic minorities than members of ethnic majorities. With regard to distributive resources, PR was predominant in the distribution of individual-level material resources and EQ in the distribution of group-level symbolic resources.

A Tale of Two Counties: Natives' Opinions Toward Immigration in North Carolina

This paper compares native residents' opinions and perceptions regarding immigration using a representative survey from a pair of matched North Carolina counties-one that experienced recent growth of its foreign-born population and one that did not. Drawing from several theoretical perspectives, including group threat, contact theory, and symbolic politics, we formulate and empirically evaluate several hypotheses. Results provide limited evidence that competition and threat influence formation of opinions about immigration, with modest support for claims that parents with school-aged children harbor more negative views of immigration than their childless counterparts. Except for residents in precarious economic situations, these negative opinions appear unrelated to the immigrant composition of the community. Claims that the media promotes negative views of immigration receive limited support, but this relationship is unrelated to the volume of local immigration. Finally, sustained contacts with foreign-born residents outside work environments are associated with positive views of immigration, but superficial contacts appear to be conducive to anti-immigration sentiments. Political orientation, educational attainment and indicators of respondents' tolerance for diversity explain most of the difference between the two counties in overall support for immigration.

The relation between states' adoption of English as their official language to demographic and social pathology variables

Comparisons indicated that the 20 states which adopted English as their official language since 1984 had lower percentages of high school graduates and higher rates of motor vehicle fatalities among their residents than did those states that did not enact such laws. The two types of states did not differ in homicide, suicide, divorce, illegitimacy, or rape rates based on 1990 census data. Also, they did not differ in terms of percentages of residents who were foreign-born, college graduates, imprisoned, unemployed, or who spoke a language other than English in the home.